Playing Pretend
by Hyuchiha Ruki
Summary: Ino finds an old tiara and crown. It brings back beautiful memories of playing 'Save the Princess' with Shikamaru and Choji and who ever knew that playing pretend brought so much more to their relalities? R&R please. One-shot.


**This is going to be a one-shot inspired by a Deidara and Tobi fan art where Tobi reaches his arms out to Deidara, asking for a hug. But, of course, Deidara ignores it and gives him a passive glare. So cute! Yes, the most stupid things inspire my stories.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

**Please R&R despite the fact that I'm brain-dead.**

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Ino rummaged through the many pieces of junk she had in the box.

There were toys for children like tops and dolls, notebooks filled with drawings and scribbles senselessly written and there was also a collection of dried flowers. Each object brought a memory back to life and she couldn't help smile.

Soon, she was almost emptying the whole box. She was actually sorting the things out, which to sell and which to give away.

Before she knew it, she spotted something that made her eyes grow wide.

A small plastic tiara and rusting tin crown.

She immediately knew why it was in the box of junk. Ino knew very well why she hadn't thrown it away long ago.

Picking up the tiara, Ino felt the rough edge it now had due to age and she noticed that the sides were already dull. The crown, on the other hand, smelled of old tin and the orange patches were everywhere.

A tiny smile crept onto Ino's expression and soon, she found herself reviving a happy memory from when she was about four years old that revolved around the little tiara and the petite crown…

"_Shikamaru!" Ino called from below, "Come down! Please!"_

_The two children, Ino and Choji, looked at the second story window, hoping Shikamaru would poke his head out but instead, there was nothing._

"_Come on!" Ino yelled some more, "Let's play pretend!"_

_Soon, Shikamaru did open his bedroom window then shouted at them, "That's the point! I don't want to play pretend! Troublesome!"_

_Choji and Ino exchanged glances then Choji answered, "We'll be going over to Ino's after. Her mom's baking cookies."_

_Shikamaru rolled his eyes then grumbled something under his breath before closing the window, proceeding down the stairs then going out of the front door to meet his friends._

"_Yeah!" Ino screamed with sheer joy, "We can play pretend now!"_

_Ino opened the purple backpack she had then took out a miniature tiara, decorated with acrylic paint and beads._

"_Like always," Ino proudly began, "I'm the princess!"_

_Choji and Shikamaru both heaved a sigh then both said at the same time, "Yeah, yeah…"_

_With that, Ino pointed at Choji then exclaimed with a smile, "Yes! And you're the big scary dragon that tries to eat me!"_

"_What?" Choji yelped, "You don't exactly look like a piece of barbecued pork, you know!"_

_Placing her hands on her hips, Ino gave Choji an annoyed expression then yelled, "I didn't say you should eat me! You're just going to TRY to eat me! Before you do, Shika will save me, anyway!"_

"…_Huh?" Shikamaru half-mindedly snapped._

_Perkily, Ino nodded her head with a cheerful smile then took a plastic crown from the bag saying, "Yep! You're the prince from far, far away and you have to save me from Choji, the mean dragon!"_

"_Mean?" Choji repeated with a scowl._

"_Quiet now!" Ino announced, "Shika, you will only get the crown once you've saved me, okay?"_

_Shikamaru groaned, "Can't we just play pirates of the sea like how we always would?"_

_Shaking her head, Ino protested, "It's getting too old. I like Save the Princess better! And that's what we're going to play!"_

_Ino looked around then spotted an open crate nearby. She jumped in with the tiara resting on her head then began to scream, "Help! The big, scary, green, mean, angry dragon named Choji is going to eat me!"_

_Choji pouted then mumbled, "I'm not green… or mean… or… angry…"_

_Soon enough, he began to sob._

"_Choji?" Shikamaru said, "Don't cry, will ya? Please… it's kinda… weird."_

_Nodding, Choji then said, "O-Okay…"_

_He sniffed then wiped his face with his long, trailing scarf and soon, the tears were gone._

"_Now, Choji, roar!" Ino exclaimed, instructing Choji the next thing to do._

_With that, Choji walked lamely to the front of the crate, faced Shikamaru then…_

_He muttered, "…Roar…"_

"_Choji!" Ino screamed, frustrated, "Roar loud! A dragon roars loudly!"_

_The chubby boy breathed in then opened his mouth to roar out but what came out was a big "Burp!"_

_Shikamaru began to snicker, shaking with laughter. "Right…" he chuckled._

"_Okay, Shika," Ino then said, eyeing Shikamaru, "Save me!"_

_Smirking with amusement but passive due to the stupid task, Shikamaru walked to Choji then grumbled, "Mind stepping aside so I can save Ino?"_

_With a smile, Choji moved aside then exclaimed, "Gladly!"_

_Ino's fury was showing in her eyes. "Choji!" she screamed at him._

"_Oh, come on, Ino," Shikamaru muttered, "Give it a rest. Choji's one peaceful dragon or something. Deal with it."_

_The girl in the tiara placed her arms across her chest then grumbled, "Oh, fine… Humph."_

_Shikamaru reached into the crate then grabbed Ino gently by the waist. He lifted her up from the crate's inside with much difficulty and when she was finally standing outside the crate, he found himself panting._

"_My hero! Yeah!" Ino shrieked, "You saved me!"_

_Shikamaru glared at her then muttered, "Mind losing a few pounds?"_

_Ignoring the comment, Ino gently placed the crown on top of Shikamaru's head then hugged him, "Now you're my Prince Charming!"_

_A slight blush went to Shikamaru's cheeks until he passively muttered, "Get off, Ino…"_

"_Now, we'll get married! Yeah!" Ino eagerly exclaimed._

_She went to Choji, still holding Shikamaru's hand then dictated, "You can also be the guy who tells us that we're married, blah, blah, okay?"_

"_What am I, multitasking?" Choji sarcastically said, "Fine, alright already…"_

_He pretended to read from an invisible book, "Shika and Ino are getting married, hip-hip-hooray, huzzah. Kiss the bride already."_

_And at that, Ino leaned to reach Shikamaru's face, trying to kiss him._

"_Eh!" Shikamaru yelled, straining to get away, "Don't even think about it!"_

"_But, Shika!" Ino opposed, "You have to kiss me so we'll be married and we'll have fifty children and they'll all have blond hair like mine and they'll be as smart as you and Choji will be their uncle and…"_

"_Agh! Alright! Just stop talking!" Shikamaru yelled, dismayed._

_He leaned down to Ino and grunted as Ino left a sweet smack on his cheek. But, deep inside, he liked it a lot._

"_See?" Ino said, "We're done! Thanks for playing pretend with me!"_

_Shikamaru fixed the crown on top of his head then suggested, "Can Choji be the prince next time?"_

_Ino shook her head, "No way! Only you can by my prince!"_

_With that, Choji cried again._

The memoir brought a beam to Ino's face. She remembered that from then on, the three of them would play that game almost everyday and things get better by the time that goes by. Choji would roar whole-heartedly and soon, it was Shika who kissed her cheek.

But, of course, like many childhood activities, they stopped doing this when they started attending the Academy.

What made her happy in the end of it all was, that game of pretend soon became a part of their lives.

Not that Ino got abducted by a dragon that tried to eat her when she was all grown up.

"Shika!" Ino called him from the living room, "Come down!"

The lazy man went down the stairs then grumbled, "Troublesome, what is it?"

When Shikaamru was near enough, Ino happily placed the old crown on his head then whispered gleefully, "Only you can be my prince."

She smiled at him and asked, "Remember that?"

Chuckling, Shikamaru said, "Yeah. We used to play pretend and you always say that."

"Isn't it funny that it turned out to be true?" Ino asked him with a beam.

"Huh?" Shikamaru muttered, confused.

Ino giggled then explained, "Who knew that even after we've been playing pretend, you'd still be my prince?"

With that, Shikamaru then continued, "Yeah, but the thing about the fifty children and all of them having blond hair…"

"Haha!" Ino laughed, "That one can't become true! That's for sure."

Shikamaru gave his wife a quick kiss on the lips then said, "Well, come on, My Princess. Choji invited us over for dinner remember?"

"Choji? The big scary dragon?" The two shared another fit of laughter until Ino said, "Let's go, Shika. We wouldn't want to keep Choji waiting."

And with that, the couple left the living room, leaving the tiara and crown together on the coffee table…

…together like how they've always been.

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**I'm sorry it's lame. Just please review it. Thank you for reading it!**


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